2010-12-03

A lovely Porcupine

A full bodied, oily, rich wine from Boekenhoutskloof, the Porcupine Ridge Viognier / Grenache Blanc 08 only comes over to the UK in limited parcels, which is a bit of a shame, as I do believe I could drink a lot of this.

South Africa these days seems to do just as well with Rhône grapes as with the Bordeaux varieties; Marc Kent and Boekenhoutskloof are at the forefront of this trend.

There's a strong spiciness to the nose of this one, along with an oily, mineral character and tropical fruit which is, I think, mango. The palate is full-bodied, not quite dry (as so many ostensibly dry New World wines are), nutty, lemony, and woody. The wine is a very good example of the way producers outside of the Northern Rhône handle Viognier, given that they can never hope to achieve the delicate, vaporous strength of Condrieu.